CHAPTER 2: RULES ARE MEANT TO BROKEN
1179 Words
Savannah Blake wasn’t easily unsettled.She had built her life on quiet control,observe, calculate, stay out of reach. Emotions were things she watched in other people, not something she participated in.
But Jay Carter was beginning to blur that line.
It started in small ways.
The way her thoughts drifted to him between classes. The way his voice replayed in her mind longer than it should. The way she noticed things she had no reason to notice,the way he leaned back when he was bored, the way his fingers tapped rhythmically when he was thinking, the way his gaze always seemed to land like it was choosing where to rest.
She told herself it was harmless.
Curiosity. Nothing more.
Still, when she found herself walking into the library that afternoon, she paused at the entrance longer than necessary.
The library was quiet in the way only libraries could be soft pages turning, distant footsteps, sunlight cutting through tall windows and landing in pale rectangles on the floor.
And there he was.
Jay Carter.
In the far corner, half-shadowed by a tall bookshelf, wearing headphones loosely over his ears. One side was off, resting around his neck. He was leaning forward slightly, elbows on the table, flipping through a graphic novel with an intensity that didn’t match the casual setting.
Savannah stopped.
Just for a second.
Long enough.
Jay didn’t look up immediately, but something about him shifted like he felt the change in air. Then his eyes lifted.
Straight to her.
Savannah’s body reacted before her mind did. She turned away too quickly, pretending to focus on the nearest shelf, fingers brushing over book spines she wasn’t actually reading.
Too late.
“Hey,” his voice called out, low but clear enough to cut through the silence.
She didn’t answer.
Didn’t move.
“You spying on me now?”
That pulled her around.
Slowly.
Jay was watching her with that half-curious, half-amused expression again, like she was the only interesting thing in a room full of books.
“In your dreams,” she said flatly.
A small smirk appeared on his face. “So you do talk.”
Savannah stepped fully into the aisle now, arms crossing instinctively. “I talk when there’s something worth responding to.”
“Ouch.” He pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. “That was personal.”
“It was honest.”
He tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was a puzzle missing a few pieces. “You always this sharp?”
“Are you always this annoying?” she shot back without thinking.
That earned a quiet laugh from him.
Not loud. Not performative.
Real.
And somehow that made it worse.
“Only when someone catches my attention,” he said.
The words hung between them longer than they should have.
Savannah hated that her heart reacted before her logic did.
She forced herself to walk closer, stopping at the edge of the table he was sitting at. The distance between them now felt….deliberate.
“You read comics?” she asked, nodding toward the book.
“Graphic novels,” he corrected casually. “And yeah.”
She frowned slightly. “Didn’t expect that.”
“What did you expect?” he asked.
She hesitated.
She didn’t want to say it but honesty slipped out anyway.
“Something….louder.”
That made his expression shift just slightly. Amusement softened into something more thoughtful.
“People usually assume that,” he said.
Silence settled again, but it wasn’t empty. It stretched between them like something waiting to be shaped.
Jay tapped the table lightly once before sliding the graphic novel toward her.
“Sit,” he said simply.
Savannah didn’t move at first.
Then, against every instinct she had built over years of staying invisible, she pulled out the chair across from him and sat.
The moment she did, the world felt slightly off balance.
Jay flipped the book open again, this time angling it so she could see. Page after page revealed dark, detailed illustrations heavy shadows, expressive faces, scenes that felt almost too emotional for ink and paper.
Savannah leaned in without realizing.
“These are yours?” she asked quietly.
“I draw,” he said. “Not for people.”
“Then why show me?”
That made him pause.
For the first time, he didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes lifted to hers.
And this time, there was no teasing in them.
“Because you don’t flinch,” he said.
Something in her chest tightened at that.
She didn’t understand why that mattered.
But it did.
The sunlight shifted slowly across the table, warming the edges of the pages between them. Savannah became aware of small things the faint scratch of pencil marks, the quiet hum of the library, the way her own breathing felt slightly uneven.
She wanted to ask about him.
About the fights,about Aiden,about the history that made her brother say his name like a warning.
But the questions stayed trapped behind her teeth.
Before she could decide whether to speak, her phone vibrated sharply against the table.
Once.
Twice.
Savannah already knew before she looked.
Aiden.
She opened the message.
Stay away from him.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
When she looked up again, Jay was watching her.
Not asking.
Not interrupting.
Just watching.
Like he already knew what the message said.
Savannah slowly closed the book between them, careful not to disturb the moment too abruptly.
“He’s not what you think,” she said quietly.
She wasn’t sure if she meant Jay.
Or herself.
Jay leaned back in his chair, expression unreadable now. “People don’t usually get second chances.”
That lingered.
Savannah looked down at her hands.
Maybe that was the problem.
Maybe no one expected anyone to change.
That evening, the house felt heavier than usual.
Aiden didn’t knock before entering her room.
He never did.
“Stay away from him,” he said immediately.
Savannah closed her notebook slowly, placing it on the bed beside her. “He’s not what you think.”
Aiden let out a sharp laugh, humorless. “That’s exactly what I think you’ll say.”
Her jaw tightened. “You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t need to,” he replied. “I know what he does. I know what he ruins.”
Savannah stood now.
Finally.
“You act like I’m something that can be broken,” she said, voice quieter but firmer than before.
Aiden stared at her.
A pause.
Heavy.
“I act like I’m trying to protect you,” he said.
But it didn’t sound the same anymore.
Not to her.
Later, when the house went quiet and her mother’s exhaustion echoed softly through the walls, Savannah lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
Her sketchbook rested beside her.
She didn’t open it.
She didn’t need to.
Because for the first time, the silence didn’t feel empty.
It felt like something was coming.
And she didn’t know whether to stop it…
or wait for it.
- Writer
